For the 5th time in 7 events on the WCT this year, Kelly Slater ended up on top with another near flawless performance at Trestles this week. Slater narrowly edged out Taj Burrow in the final heat today on his way to winning the 2008 Boost Mobile Pro.

Taj came out absolutely firing at the beginning of the 40 min. extended final and quickly put the 8x world champion in a combo situation. It was looking pretty glim for the champ, however as Kelly has done so many times throughout his illustrious career, he stayed cool and came back to clinch the victory in the closing minutes.

“I was literally out there just trying to save face, I thought Taj had me – he was on fire,” Slater said. “I was just trying to get out of combo and put on a good show for everybody. I got a 9.7 on a smaller wave that had a clean face and let me get a lot of speed and some big carves and that let me get back in.”

Taj in fact did have Kelly, and really probably should have had Kelly. With under two minutes left in the final, Taj was still holding a sizable lead as Kelly was looking for a score of 8.93 to combine with the 9.7. Taj held priority as time ticked away but decided to let Kelly take-off on a wave he didn’t feel would give-up the score Kelly was looking for. He was wrong and Kelly proceeded to shred his way to a 9.27, and in doing so sealed his 3rd Boost Mobile Pro victory, as well as a hefty $75,000 worth of prize money which Bob Hurley sweetened with an extra $45,000 today.

“Taj had priority and he let that wave go because it was the first wave and he probably thought it was going to be bumpy but it let me do a lot on it.” Slater said. A very disappointed Taj saw it another way. “I felt like I won,” Burrow said. “I don’t think that wave had the scoring potential. I just had a feeling that they were going to give it to him. He had a lot of energy about him. He’s Kelly and he finished it. He got to the end and I knew it was going to be a good score. I don’t know what else I could have done. I picked the best waves and surfed them really well so it’s frustrating. He was really hungry and ended up clinching it.”

Taj surfed absolutely out of his mind throughout the event at Trestles, Kelly is just on a run right now like none we have ever seen before and this come from behind win was as spectacular as any. Not to mention his full-on barrel this morning at Trestles, a wave that isn’t really known to give up barrels, ever.

Congratulations Kelly Slater, the 2008 Boost Mobile Pro Champion! On a side note, Kelly was also given the keys to the city of San Clemente tonight at a special beach event hosted by Hurley and Boost Mobile, which saw surfer/musician Timmy Curran perform a free concert as well as a special screening of Bustin’ Down the Door.

Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Final Results:
Kelly Slater (USA) 18.97 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.63

Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Semifinal Results:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.67 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.10
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.33 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.50

Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Quarterfinal Results:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 16.90 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 14.10
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.16 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 15.16
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.57 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.67
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.50 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 6.34
Today’s Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Round 4 Results:
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.07 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.00
Heat 8: Heitor Alves (BRA) 11.14 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 11.0

The 2008 Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley is well underway and to this point has been full of spectacular surfing in the 3-5 ft. summer swell at Trestles. The last two days have seen the completion of Rounds 1,2, and the first four heats of Round 3. The current swell is expected to hold tight and build throughout the week. The competition at Lowers is likely to ensue Wednesday morning.

3-x world champion Andy Irons continues his less than stellar year with a surprising Rd. 2 loss to Yadin Nicol. Andy came into the event at Trestles ranked 7th in the current ASP standings but will obviously be taking a slide with this early exit. Andy has had runs of classic A.I. surfing this year but has yet been able to put it together for a whole event.

Joel Parkinson, Dane Reynolds, and Bede Durbidge are among those already making their way into the 4th round. Round 3 still holds several interesting match-up as current 8x, as well as eventual 9x world champion, Kelly Slater meets up with former world champ Sunny Garcia in the 8th heat. Sunny has been battling his way through the WQS this year in hopes of making it back onto the WCT full-time in 2009. Sunny vowed to make Slater’s year on tour a living hell next year if succeeds in his goal to get back on the Dream Tour. Although the words were given somewhat in jest, it doesn’t take much to get Kelly motivated to go for the kill.

UPCOMING ROUND 3 HEATS for 9/10/08:
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA), Ben Bourgeois (USA)
Heat 6: Kai Otton (AUS), Luke Munro (AUS)
Heat 7: Roy Powers (HAW), Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA), Sunny Garcia (HAW)
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS), Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Heat 10: Tim Reyes (USA), Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA)
Heat 12: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Royden Bryson (ZAF)
Heat 13: Taj Burrow (AUS), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 14: Chris Ward (USA), Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Heat 15: CJ Hobgood (USA), Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 16: Bruce Irons (HAW), Jay Thompson (AUS)

After nearly a month long break following the Rip Curl Pro Search in Bali, the ASP World Tour is set to continue with the 2008 Boost Mobile Pro. The holding period for the event, which is held at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, opens next Sunday, Sept. 7

As the lone annual visit to North America made by the Dream Tour is set to kick-off, it’s no surprise that all eyes are on eight-time world champion Kelly Slater.

Following his surprising 3rd round Bali loss to rookie and then world no. 39 Tiago Pires(PRT), Kelly is fired up about getting his march to no. 9 resumed at a break he is very familiar with. Coming into the event as the defending champion, as well as participating in the final heat in each of the last four years at Trestles has Kelly eager to get back on track. “Trestles is probably the closest thing I have to a home break on tour,” Slater said. “It is the only mainland U.S. event and it’s been probably the most consistent event year to year for me. I’ve loved Trestles since I was very young.”

A win at Trestles, or even a top 5 finish, makes Slater an essential lock to seal the overall championship on the upcoming European leg of the tour. With none of the top 10 outside of Taj Burrow making it past the 4th round in Bali, Slater is very conscious of what’s at stake at Lowers. “Bali was a gift to me in the end,” Slater said. “A good result at Trestles could really set my momentum back up. A mess-up could really rattle and shake things up for me. I didn’t think I’d be looking at this the way it is now though, so it’s all fine from here on out.”

Will Trestles be the start of an extended 9th world-championship celebration for Mr. Slater? It’s looking that way, but if Tiago Pires and Bruce Irons taught us one thing in Bali, it’s that anything is possible on the WCT

Clips of Kelly Slater’s 2007 Trestles victory…

Anytime you come out on top of a field that includes the likes of Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, and Julian Wilson you have to be pretty stoked. Combine that with a check for $25,000 and you have to think that 18 yr. old Owen Wright has to be on top of the world right now.

The wildcard contestant, Wright, overcame a stacked line-up to become the winner of the second annual Boost Mobile Surf Sho. The Australian Junior champion soared pass the field and capped off his performance with a 9.93 in the closing minutes of the 25-minute final to take home this year’s aerial crown.

“It’s hard to explain how good I feel,” said Wright. “I did a couple of good airs in the opening stages of the final, but couldn’t stick any. With a couple of minutes remaining the perfect ramp popped up and I sealed the deal. When I landed it I hoped no one landed anything bigger cause all the guys were capable of pulling a big move off. It feels great to win it.”

Conditions on the Gold Coast proved to be ideal for launching huge airs and provided an absolute show for the thousands of spectators. Although Taj wasn’t able to pull-off a repeat victory in this years event, he did liven things up a little by taking to the waves on a bodyboard and pulling out a 360. The whole weekend proved to be a blast and at the completion of the event’s action, contest organizers vowed to be back once again and go even bigger and better next year. Congratulations Owen Wright, the 2008 Boost Mobile Surf Sho champion!

boost mobile

The second annual Boost Mobile Surf Sho is set to kick-off this weekend and two more monster talents have thrown their names into the event. Bede Durbidge and C.J. Hobgood both confirmed they will be in attendance, giving an event that is already choked with world class surfers even more star-power. Hobgood and Durbidge will join a line-up that already includes current world-champ Mick Fanning, wonder-kid Julian Wilson, Ozzie Wright, Ry Craike, as well as last years Surf Sho winner Taj Burrow.

The whole event is set up to wow spectators with some of the more dynamic aerials and tricks that are coming into performance surfing. It’s great to see more of the top WCT surfers participating in an event that is completely geared toward progressive surfing. Bede’s participation has me especially excited to watch as I have yet to see much of the White Fijian’s aerial repitoire.

The event will be webcast this Saturday and Sunday. This is definitely an event worth taking a look at. Putting some of surfings top talent and just letting them boost air after air will keep anyone watching on their toes. The Boost Mobile Surf Sho is gaining momentum in only it’s second year and is becoming an event to annually keep our eyes on.

bede durbidgeboost mobile

Heading into the inaugural Boost Mobile Surf Sho event around this same time last year, Taj Burrow was sitting on top of the world. Earlier that same week he had won the 2007 Bells Beach title to then hold the world overall no.1 ranking. This time around he is not quite where he had hoped to be following the Australian two-step, but he’s hoping a repeat victory at an event that will jump-start a run to his long awaited ASP world championship.

Pulling off another victory at the aerial show will be anything but easy for Taj. He’s up against a field that includes current world-champ Mick Fanning, wonder-kid Julian Wilson, aerial-artist Ozzie Wright, as well as young-gun Ry Craike in the innovative and entertaining ‘game show’ style event. Getting back into the winners circle, even though it won’t count on the tour standings, would be a huge boost to Burrow’s confidence heading into Tahiti

“It’s been the most frustrating start to the year because I feel I’m surfing well, I’m fit and I’ve got great equipment,” said Burrow. “I’d love to make up for it by reclaiming the Boost Surf Sho title. I’ve been practicing and working on some new flips so, hopefully I can get the jump on the boys again”

The Boost Mobile Surf Sho in itself is huge for surfing’s progression. What really caught my eye is the prize money. First place brings home $25,000(AUS), which is roughly $23,500(U.S.). That’s pretty solid for an event that is only in its second year of existence, especially when you consider that the stagnant prize money totals for WCT events are not that much higher. The format is geared to make the event spectator friendly, and this is something that the ‘CT events have struggled with at times. Putting world-class talent in an event and rewarding progressive surfing with a large purse will surely bring a display of maneuvers that will leave us all standing in awe.

taj burrowboost mobile